D&D 5E Character Marriage and cerimonies.

[MichaelArkAngel]

The group I have been running for the past 2 and a half years is ending, and one of the characters was romantically involved "character -wise." I thought it would be nice to hold a wedding ceremony in game, to give that "Happy Ending," but wasn't sure where to start.

The couple getting married are Elven, residing in the Misty Forest and part of the Emerald Enclave. I'm not sure if there is a certain type of ceremony that Elves have when getting married, but I would imagine it would be different than the conventional "human wedding ceremony."

has anyone ever done something like this?

 

[iserith]

The rules as written for drama demands that the wedding go awry in some way. So really, the actual ceremony isn't the important bit. You may, however, be well served by writing the adventure around themes related to marriage, such as an eternal bond being forged, a new phase beginning, important milestones, etc. Convey the important bits about marriage (as the group sees it) through the challenges that arise rather than through the pomp and circumstance.

Also, cake.

 

[MiraMels]

I haven't had the chance to DM an in-character wedding before, but i've definitely had characters whose stories included romantic relationships or romance arcs. In most cases they were background facts, or PC-NPC relationships, but in my current Storm King's Daughters campaign two of the PC's characters are in the process of falling for each other.


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[discosoc]

Whatever you decide on, just make sure it gets attacked so at the very end the characters can all turn to the camera and say something cheesy like "here we go again!" and charge into battle as it fades to black...

 

[Tony Vargas]

You might check out the neo-pagan handfasting. Might suit CG nature-loving D&D elves.

 

[S'mon]

Two PCs got married (to NPCs) in my Loudwater FR campaign, as did a couple prominent NPCs. For the FR humans I tended to use a conventional Christian type wedding ceremony with a bit of a new agey feel. For the dwarves I remember the NPC lady dwarf placed the Heavy Golden Armband of Commitment on her PC beau.

 

[MarkB]

Have both participants be required to choose a Second, the equivalent of the Best Man. Then let them know that, in the event of either of the primaries being unavailable, their second must take their place.

Then have both the main participants disappear just before the ceremony, and have the seconds find out that they are now obliged to marry each other.

 

[Gardens & Goblins]

Until dice do us part..

 

[Mercule]

What I've done, in the past, for wrapping up a campaign neat and tidy is to have a counterpoint to the Session 0. If you're actually ending the campaign at a certain time (I'm remembering college graduation), and don't want to risk having any major action left hanging, you might do this. Depending on whether it's just the end of a campaign or actually a parting of friends, this denouement/epilogue session can be combined with a dinner, throwing back some drinks, or whatever makes sense in a more casual sense -- again, thinking of something akin to college graduation or the DM moving away.

If it's something less deadline-driven, then you could go ahead and play it out, with some sort of complication as suggested by others. Personally, while I enjoy a fair amount of role-play and character building, I don't think I'd actually enjoy a session that was run normally, but only intended to wrap things up without real chance of conflict or adventure. It would be better, in my opinion, to do the epilogue session and "zoom in" at appropriate moments, when the players appeared to be engaged in specific things. YMMV, of course.

 

[aco175]

You can give something like a necklace or non-ring jewelry to be a bit different. Although the ring is more Tolkien-like. I also think that elves with their long lives tend to look at marriage as not a lifelong concept. They may get married for 100 years before drifting apart with other pursuits and find another spouse. I did not think that they put too much into the concept.

There should be a dance with flowers and light food, maybe some special wine and gifts from each others profession.

I also agree with having a final conflict halfway through the ceremony. I first thought of Robin Hood with Kevin Costner (1991). The sheriff grabs the girl and locks themselves in with another priest while the heroes try and break down the doors. May not work as good as you want vs. cinema, especially with one of the kidnapped being a hero themselves. Maybe a demon from the past comes to the event with several cultists summoning it. It could also be simple with a pesky past love come in and the bride knocks her out cold and says "proceed". Curtains.